Trillium is the official flower of Ontario and the official wildflower of Ohio. It was supposed
to be easy plucking for the Crew last night.

Toronto FC, an alleged rival the Crew has dominated, was the visitor. The Reds were coming off a
3-0 loss, and they were without multimillionaire forward Jermain Defoe (hamstring) and their
defensive anchor, captain Steven Caldwell (suspension). They were facing the best team of the young
Major League Soccer season.

The Crew had yet to lose a game, exhibition season included. They were leading MLS in every
major statistical category. What’s more, they historically owned the Trillium Cup, the erstwhile
Illibuck of MLS hardware.

The flower was there to be plucked in front of the joyous fans who showed up at Crew Stadium,
and those watching on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, the worldwide leader in blackouts.

Hold it.

Toronto threw Michael Bradley at the Crew early, draped a force field across its net and added a
late goal. Toronto won 2-0 in a stunner. Yes, this is soccer, and MLS is a notoriously parity-laden
league. It was still a stunner.

A crowd of 12,045 had arrived with a trace of drool on their lips. The Nordecke was jammed with
a hard-core group that was set to see their favorite team start with a 4-0 record for the first
time in franchise history. The fans left with their mouths dry.

The Crew started the game sloppily. Toronto gummed up the Crew’s passing lanes and looked to
counterattack. Bradley was in the middle of it all, controlling the midfield, appearing like a
beacon as the lowering sun shone off his white dome. The big, bald man oozed danger. He was looking
for his shot.

“There is no secret (Bradley) is a great player; there’s no need to even discuss it,” Crew coach
Gregg Berhalter said. “If you give a good player the ball in the penalty box, good things will
happen (for the good player). He punished us tonight.”

In the 11th minute, Bradley took a pass along the right side of the penalty box, found space as
he approached the goal line and let a right-footed shot rip at a seemingly impossible angle.

Already, he knows what it is to play in Toronto: He scored five-hole.

Then, he peeled off and sprinted at the Nordecke with his fist in the air. This was
something.

Here was Bradley, who left AC Roma to sign an MLS contract worth more than $6 million a year.
Here was Bradley, a U.S. national team star who has taken part in his share of the famed
dos a cero victories over Mexico at Crew Stadium — he had the dos in 2009, as a matter of
fact. Here was Bradley, running into the teeth of the Nordecke, giving the home supporters a
facial.

Take that, undefeated Crew.

Was it a conscious thing?

“No,” Bradley said, smiling slightly. “I just scored on that side, and I was excited.”

Sure.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to get a few goals here,” Bradley said. “It’s a great stadium, a
great atmosphere. So far, my record is not bad here, either.”

On Wednesday, Bradley had a goal and an assist in a 2-2 draw with Mexico in an exhibition game
in Glendale, Ariz. He came back and played 73 minutes yesterday and daggered the Crew. And he got
booed.

“It means you’re doing something right,” he said. “This was a great chance for us to put things
right after (a 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake) last week.”

It was but the second victory Toronto has managed in Crew Stadium in seven-plus years. If the
Trillium Cup was not a rivalry before, it is now.

Toronto has loaded up with high-priced talent. The Crew is on the come, last night’s loss
notwithstanding. As Bradley signaled with his hard-angle shot, and his rush at the Nordecke, this
year’s Eastern Conference race just got more interesting.